Armenians-planted mines killed over 280 Azerbaijanis during 44-day war - MFA

Armenians have planted landmines on areas of thousands of square kilometers in the Azerbaijani territories during the decades-long occupation.

According to Report, as many as 282 Azerbaijanis became victims of mine explosions only during the 44-day Second Karabakh War of 2020, and the mine threat continues nowadays, as stated by Aykhan Hajizade, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

"The denial during the interview that the mines produced by Armenia in 2021 were carried along the Lachin road and installed on our territories and the arguments that they were allegedly taken from Armenian territory by Azerbaijan and brought into our country do not fit with basic military knowledge and logic," Hajizade responded to the statements of Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, which he voiced in an interview with Armenpress news agency.

"The Azerbaijani side showed the areas where 2021 Armenian-made mines and a large number of such samples had been laid to the commander of the Russian peacekeeping forces temporarily deployed in Azerbaijan, the heads of the Turkish and Russian contingents of the Joint Turkish-Russian Monitoring Centre, as well as military attachés and journalists of foreign states accredited in Azerbaijan. These mines were examined by military personnel and experts. These facts cannot be denied.

It is well known that the claims that Armenia has not produced or exported mines over the past decades, and the allegations to that effect in Armenia's reports in the relevant international venues, are mere lies.For example, the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the OSCE stated back on 5 October 2022 during a speech at the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation that mines were not produced in Armenia.

Now the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs confirms not only that mines were produced in Armenia in 2021, but also that the said mines found in Azerbaijani territories were of Armenian production, despite previous denials. Along with the above-mentioned, the statements of the Armenian side in the interview that it is planting mines only in the territory of the Republic of Armenia are hypocritical," Hajizade noted.